BULLION vs NUMISMATIC vs SEMI-NUMISMATIC

[RareAGstrikes]

BULLION vs NUMISMATIC vs SEMI-NUMISMATIC

There is sometimes confusion about what defines these different classifications of coins or rounds. For the purposes of this discussion I will use the term “coins”.

Bullion coins are purchased solely for their precious metals content, which will become more or less valuable according to the prevailing market price of the associated precious metals. Examples of well known bullion coins are American Eagles, Canadian Maples, and South African Krugerrands. They are purchased as an investment, as an inflation hedge, and for survival purposes.

According to Merriam Webster, “Numismatics” means “the study or act of collecting coins, paper money, and medals”. Numismatic coins are essentially rare or valuable coins that have an external value beyond the base value of the precious metal. There are many factors that can add value to a coin to place it in the category of numismatics, but they are generally valued for being rare and collectible.

Semi-Numismatic usually refers to limited issue bullion coins carrying a significant premium above spot and produced by various government mints.

An example of a semi-numismatic coin are the variations of silver maples produced by Royal Canadian Mint. The standard issue bullion maple is the well known coin having Queen Elizabeth on the obverse and a Canadian Maple on the reverse. As previously noted, mintage is in the several millions in any recent year. 

The semi-numismatic versions of these bullion coins have different reverse images such as a series of nature scenes, birds, or other animals, with mintage limited to “only” one million each.

They are typically issued at a premium of about a dollar higher than the maple bullion version, and due to their so-called rarity typically command a value of several dollars higher than their standard bullion counterparts after only a few years.